Benson's First Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year.  Benson was only 4 days old!  We left the hospital on Saturday and headed up to my parents on Sunday.  We may have over done it those first few days, but I couldn't stand the thought of celebrating our last Christmas in Utah without our family!
The weather was pretty crumby on Christmas Eve so Riley, Benson and I stayed behind.  I was sad at first but we got to spend some much needed family time together- we drank hot chocolate and watched the bible videos of Christ's birth. It was pretty special after just having a baby.  The family joined us and for the first time I witnessed the creation of the piles... I felt like a real grown up.

 Benson in his Christmas Eve pj's

 Mason and Matt on Christmas morning

 Benson got Riley "Just Me and My Dad" 

The three boy cousins

Christmas was really great.  We love spending time with family and felt especially blessed this year to have Benson with us.  We also got to talk to Riley on the phone! It was crazy thinking he was in Africa. It was great to talk to him.  We also got to have a mini Christmas was the Wilson's.  It was nice to see everyone and introduce them all to Benson.  It was fabulous Christmas!!

Benson Edward Wilson

**photo courtesy of Mandy Serafine

December 20, 2012

2:43 PM

7 pounds, 11 ounces

21 inches

On the 19th Riley and I found out that I would be induced on either the 20th or the 21st.  We got a phone call at 5 AM to be to the hospital by 6.  So we quickly got ready and headed to the hospital.  I was hooked up to the pitocin by 7.  The doctor broke my water at 10 and the contractions got about a million times worse.  Thankfully the epidural was in place shortly after.  At noon I was dilated to a 9. The baby's head was turned to the side and we couldn't get him to face down.  We decided to play the waiting game to see if he would turn his head on his own.  At 2:15 I was fully dilated and he still had not turned his head. The doctor had my do a practice push and see if the head would turn. It didn't and his heart rate dropped and didn't return to normal.  Because of this the doctor gave us two options, use a vacuum or a c-section.  I was only given two contractions to get the baby out with the vacuum and if that didn't work we would be rushed off to a c-section.  The room filled up quickly with a team from the NICU and another team to hurry us to an emergency c-section.  Luckily, thanks to our awesome doctor and a lot of answered prayers, Benson was born at 2:43 PM.  It was a miracle.  

We are delighted to have Benson with us.  It is a treat to see Riley hold and take care of him.  We couldn't be happier! The hospital stay was nice, but it was even better to come home.  Below are a few pictures of our stay and the lovely visitors we had! 

Life pre-baby

After finals were over Riley and I had an unknown amount of time before the arrival of the baby.  We rented many redbox movies, took lots of walks, cleaned, spent time with family and walked down memory lane.  I just finished my last semester at BYU so, one warm winter evening we walked up to campus and went to some of our favorite spots.  We were sure the long walk and endless laughter would put me into labor... not so.  Regardless, we had a great time.  Here are some of our favorite places on campus:

 The Maeser building.  I've only been in there a handful of times but I think it is a beautiful old building.

 Had one class here... But how could we not take a picture in front of the building named after our son?

 This is the spiral staircase inside the JFSB.  I spent the majority of my college career in this building.

 This is Riley imitating one of my favorite teachers.

 The museum of art has some strange statues outside...

 This was in Maps, our favorite section of the library.

 The economics building, otherwise known as the FOB. This is where Riley spends a LOT of time.

Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday Riley and I met for lunch in the JKB.  

Finishing school at BYU is a weird feeling.  It is both exciting and sad.  I really enjoyed my classes there and the many things I learned.  It certainly was not easy and I could not have graduated without the support of Riley, parents, siblings and friends.  On to bigger and better things!

Pregnancy advice

I've noticed that people are very willing to give advice to you when pregnant... Mostly this advice comes from people I don't know very well.  Which means it is unsolicited and oftentimes strange... strange advice.

-Coming from a middle-aged woman who has never had children:  "If you eat pineapple and mango's you'll go into labor right away"- True or not, I will avoid pineapples and mangos until after finals.

-"Make sure you have the car seat installed before you go to the hospital because they WILL NOT let you leave without one" - While the hospital won't let drive away without one, they certainly won't keep you captive if you try to walk away...

-"If you are grocery shopping when you water breaks, just grab a jar of pickles and drop it on the floor so no one knows the mess was from you" - I doubt the last thing I do if my water breaks, while conveniently at the grocery store, is run to a different isle while trailing a bunch of fluid and throw a jar of pickles on the ground. I have a feeling that would make me look more insane than simply telling someone my water broke and apologize for the mess...

-People often ask me if I've been having contractions, to which I answer, Yes (because I do have them often).  They usually respond by saying something like, "Well, don't get your hopes up, you could be in labor for weeks!" -Thank you. That is exactly what I want to hear as my stomach contracts and hips burn in pain.

-The last week or so I've noticed that even my maternity clothes just don't fit as well anymore.  I have one skirt that has a zipper and I started not to zip it all the way up out of comfort.  One day at work I walked past a lady and she noticed that my shirt hadn't been pulled down in the back and it revealed the top portion of my unzipped zipper *gasp*! She rushed over and started pulling my shirt down for me and telling me how funny I was.  She advised me to "always make sure my shirt is pulled down because it would just be humiliating if someone else saw!" Heaven forbid.

-"For the next few weeks make sure you have gas in your car so you have a way to get to the hospital"

-"Just get the epidural the moment you get to the hospital because you do not want to know what real pain feels like"

-After telling the doctor about some very uncomfortable and sudden pain I've felt in the past day or two, he responded with a sympathetic look and "I hate to tell you that it will probably just get worse- but you can always take a warm bath or shower, warm compresses, or tylenol to help it feel better".  I bet there is nothing worse than telling a very pregnant person that the only real relief is the actual birth of their baby, which won't be happening for another few weeks.

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

33 weeks down, 7 more to go!

33 weeks, can you believe it? Neither can Riley and I.  It has been a long 33 weeks, but worth every minute.  I can say that now after 5 months of morning sickness and two kidney stones :) I may not have admitted it then. But, we are moving past those things and looking forward to December when our baby will finally be here!  We are hoping and praying he doesn't decide to come until AFTER finals, but we'll take him anytime.

So, here is a picture of me at 33 weeks...Ignore the bathroom in the background.  I figure long lost family may appreciate seeing it. If not, then ignore.

The baby is doing great! I had an appointment last week and he is head down and ready to go.  He doesn't kick as much these days, but moves around a lot.  I've heard people complain about getting kicked in the ribs, but that hasn't happened to me, instead he enjoys punching my hip bone.  My back and hips can get pretty sore.  I still walk to work and school which has most likely prevented a lot of aching and weight gain.  I hope I can walk through the end of the semester (here's hoping it doesn't get icy!)

For purposes of having some documentation of the last few weeks (mainly for myself) here goes:

Oct. 11- Katelyn came home!  I have no photo proof.  But she's back and we love having her around.
Oct. 15- Wake up in the middle of the night with intense back pain, start throwing up and having contractions.  Around 2 AM Riley (who has recently won the award for the best husband in the world) drove me to labor and delivery per nurse's orders.  We didn't know where it was in the hospital but after trying several locked doors we finally found it.  Once up there they had me change and started monitoring the baby.  He was doing great!  The contractions were there but inconsistent, thank goodness.  They hooked me up with an IV, which failed the first time because my hand swelled up, so they put it in my other arm.  They drew some blood for some tests and then finally. FINALLY. started the pain medication.  It worked within minutes. Beautiful relief.  It made me very very drowsy, and only lasted about half an hour.  An hour later they gave me some more.  During this time they took us down for an ultrasound of my kidneys.  The tech gave us a sneak peak at the baby too! Although I don't remember it well.  We went back up to the room and they let us sleep for the next few hours before our Doctor came in for the day.  He came and said that it was a kidney stone, though it didn't show on the ultrasound (I guess that is normal?) and sent us home with some prescriptions and wished us luck.
Poor Riley had been up all night and had a long day of classes that he couldn't miss so my mom and Kate were kind enough to come spend the day with me.  I'm really not sure what they did all day while I slept...
Oct 16-17 were spent on percocet and then just tylenol, waiting and waiting for the stone to pass. One did on the morning of the 17th and we thought we had made it through.  I even went to a class and study group in the afternoon.
Oct 18- Felt crumby and stayed home the whole day. LouJean came for the afternoon. She came another day too but I can't remember which one. She was a lifesaver!
Oct 19 - Woke up and thought I was feeling ok but then around 8 am, right before Riley school and right after I promised him I would be fine alone for the day, another back attack thing happened.  We called the nurse and she said to come in to the clinic.  Riley had work, and since it wasn't an emergency Kelli (who took the whole day off for me-thanks Kell!) came and took me.  They were incredibly unhelpful, but did order another ultrasound of my kidneys.  We went back home to wait and I had to drink 32 oz of water and hour before the ultrasound and NOT got to the bathroom.  Ya right. That was killer.  Riley was able to come back home and the three of us set of for the ultrasound.  They found another one.Yippee.  But we had suspected so all along.  We also got a little more in depth view of the baby.  He's pretty cute, just wait till you get to see him!
Oct 20 - Woke up and didn't feel much pain. Weird. Riley was at scouts all morning so I started cleaning the apartment. Bad idea, I was sick of laying down and drinking water all day.
Oct 21 - Made it through church.
Oct 22 - Went to work and school, started feeling normal again.

Fun, right? I can't express enough how grateful I am for Riley and other family members (Mom, Kate, Kelli, LouJean and Andres) who were so generous with their time to help us.  The nurse on call all week was amazing.  I'd like to meet her one day... We are also incredibly grateful that it wasn't preterm labor and that baby boy is still healthy and growing inside.

Oct 27 - Mom throws a wicked Halloween party every year.  It is so fun! I took lots of pictures with her camera.. so one day I'll put them up.
Oct 28 - Kate's homecoming talk in church and my ward's primary program.  Kate did a GREAT job! She was such a great missionary. Like I said before, we love having her home!  The primary program went really well.  Those kids are amazing!
TODAY- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  I hope you all enjoy whatever festivities you participate in.  I do not, however, appreciate college students dressing up on campus.  I just don't get it!

The Wilson's cabin has made it on my list of favorite places to go.  It is unbelievably gorgeous up American Fork canyon.  The cabin is rustic enough to feel far away from "the world" but has all the conveniences of a home, minus a shower.  Which is why we don't go for too long.

One of my very best friends, Kayla Beus got married on Friday!  I was lucky enough to go to the temple and it was awesome!  After the reception Riley and I headed up to the cabin for the night.  It had been a long week and we needed a break! The colors were just starting to change so we captured a few of the really cool looking trees.